Kids' Menus -- changes starting now and to be fully implemented by July 2012. Darden's will:

Add a fruit or vegetable as the default side for every kids' menu
item at those restaurants offering a default side on the children's
menu: Bahama Breeze, LongHorn Steakhouse and Red Lobster.

Make 1% milk the default beverage.

Make milk prominently promoted on the menu and available with free refills.

Illustrate healthy choices for meals and drinks on menus.

Display healthier menu options more prominently, when possible.

Not display carbonated beverages on children's menus.

Improve the nutritional content of one or more children's menu items
to provide equal or less than 600 calories, 30 percent of total calories from
fat, 10 percent of total calories from saturated fat, and 600 mg of sodium.

Calories/Sodium Footprint Reduction -- changes to be implemented by 2016 and 2021

By 2016, reduce calories by 10 percent and over a ten-year period by 20 percent.

By 2016, reduce sodium by 10 percent and over a ten-year period by 20 percent.

My personal interest: In 2005, I was invited to Amelia Island,
Florida, to give a talk to the CEOs of popular restaurant chains, among
them Clarence Otis, Jr., the CEO of Darden's. I was specifically asked
to discuss what restaurant chains could do to lessen the impact of
childhood obesity.

In my talk, I told the group that they could help alleviate childhood obesity by:

Making healthy kids' meals the default. Parents could still order junk food, but the default meal should be healthy.

Providing a price incentive for choosing smaller portions.

Stopping any funding of the Center for Consumer Freedom and hiding behind its tactics.

The reaction? The CEOs went ballistic: "you are trying to put us out of business!"

No, I simply hoped they would consider making it easier for customers to make healthier choices.

Seven years later, Mrs. Obama has put these chains on notice that
they are part of the problem of childhood obesity and must change their
practices. Darden's has admitted that it bears some responsibility for
contributing to childhood obesity and is making some grudging
changes. Others are likely to follow.